Interviewer
Merle Johnston and Nancy Cranston
Files
Description
Sisters Blanche and Flora Hamel and their brother, Edmond Hamel, Jr., describe growing up Frenchtown, Montana, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They talk about their mother and father emigrating from Quebec, Canada, during the 1880s, and their father’s partnership with Theodore Bedard, with whom he owned the Hamel Hotel and various other businesses in Frenchtown. They discuss their father’s death, and how their mother took over his half of the business and became a successful businesswoman. The Hamel siblings describe attending school in Frenchtown and Missoula, and also going back to Quebec to attend school there as teenagers so they could spend time with their maternal grandmother. They recall various aspects of Frenchtown history, including the construction of specific schools and purchasing a church pew each year instead of giving money every week.
Arthur Donlan is present during the interview and occasionally asks questions and confirms information.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Frenchtown, Montana; Catholic Church, Montana; Education, Montana; Immigration, Montana; French-Canadian immigrants; Dussault family; Hamel family; Edmond Hamel, Sr.; Malvina Bergeron Rocheleau Hamel Barrette
Original Date
4-2-1975
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Frenchtown Historical Society Oral History Project, OH 047, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 047-006
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
1 sound cassette (01:00:00 min.) analog + 1 transcript (26 p.: 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
00:56:05 minutes
Local Filename
OH_047_006.pdf
Citation
Hamel, Blanche; Hamel, Flore; and Hamel, Edmond, "Blanche Hamel, Flore Hamel, and Edmond Hamel Interview, April 2, 1975" (1975). Frenchtown Historical Society Oral History Project. 5.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/frenchtown_oralhistory/5